CSEA

Monday, February 25, 2013

CSEA News you can use!!!!

Unit 7400 Negotiation Update

that Negotiation Surveys have gone out. Please return them as soon as possible so they can be reviewed by you Union Negotiation Team. For additional information on negotiations, read the last BLAST by CLICKING HERE!! If you did not receive your Unit 7400 Survey, please call the Union Office @ (585) 326-5250.

The Unit 7400/Local 828 Office is Moving

The new Office will be open by March 11, 2013. The phone number will remain unchanged. The NEW address will be: CSEA Unit 7400/Local 828 OFFICE, 1354 Buffalo Road - Suite 6, Rochester, NY 14624. For a map CLICK HERE!

State Budget News

Governor Cuomo released 30 Day Amendments to the Executive Budget and announced that developmental disability services will suffer from the loss of $500 million in federal revenue. $120 million in cuts will be made to OPWDD by a six percent reduction to rates for not-for-profit providers, and another $380 million in cuts will come from other adjustments in Medicaid.

Also included in the amendments was an expansion of the misguided pension smoothing plan to include BOCES, Nassau University Medical Center, Westchester Medical Center, and Erie County Medical Center.

Canal Cuts Bad For Boaters, Business in NY

CSEA has joined with a statewide coalition of businesses, individuals and boaters who are opposed to the layoff of more than 40 Canal Corporation workers who operate the locks across the Barge Canal system. The coalition has started a grass-roots online petition to make their opposition to the cuts known to the Governor. Please sign the petition at: http://www.change.org/petitions/stopnycanalcuts

Comptroller DiNapoli Praised in Independent Review

An independent review of the state’s pension fund conducted by Funston Advisory Services found that Comptroller DiNapoli has been able to “restore integrity to the Office of the State Comptroller.”

The Comptroller said that the review was “a validation that we are on the right path and should reassure the people of New York the Fund is being managed properly and ethically.”

Sequestration Looms

Over $1 trillion in automatic federal spending cuts will begin to take effect on March 1st if the President and Congress can’t come to an agreement to stop them. According to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget, sequestration will result in the loss of 750,000 jobs this year alone.

The White House says that these across the board cuts to domestic spending could result in up to 373,000 seriously mentally ill individuals going without treatment, could slow the processing of disability claims and disbursements, and could put more than 30,000 teacher and staff jobs at risk. With 35% of New York’s budget coming from Federal funds, these cuts put all of us at risk.

Call your Congressional Representative today at 888-659-9401 to tell them to work with the President to stop these devastating cuts.

At a Glance

CSEA will express its deep concerns with the Governor’s proposed budget at a joint legislative budget hearing on Wednesday in Albany.

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the annual CSEA/AFSCME lobby day on March 5, 2013 from 11AM – 3:30 PM at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center. Call your region coordinator to sign up: